Leaked CCTV video has been circulated online, purportedly showing the moments before a 17-year-old male fell to his death in an Orchard Road mall

Witnesses had reportedly seen the 17-year-old vaulting over the railing to retrieve a phone that had fallen on what seemed like a solid ledge, but was actually a decorative plasterboard casing not meant to bear loads. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

SINGAPORE: What appears to be a leaked CCTV video has been circulated online, purportedly showing the moments before a 17-year-old male fell to his death in an Orchard Road mall on Friday.

In the 15-second clip , a teenager uses both hands to jump over the 1.2m railing of a link bridge in Orchard Central while a girl in white holds up her right hand. Seconds later, she appears to panic and looks over the railing.

The time and date stamp shown in the footage matches that of the incident, as does an Orchard Central sign visible in the video. The footage appears to have been shot from the Orchard Gateway side of the bridge which links the two malls. Orchard Gateway has confirmed the authenticity of the video.

The boy is believed to be Jonathan Chow Hua Guang.

Earlier eyewitness accounts described Jonathan "vaulting" over the railing of the fourth-storey link bridge to retrieve a phone that had fallen on what seemed like a solid ledge, but was actually a decorative plasterboard casing. The incident happened around 4pm on Friday. The casing, which was not meant to bear loads, collapsed and Jonathan landed on the ground below.

Singapore Civil Defence Force officers took the teen to Tan Tock Seng Hospital but he died later in hospital.

Information on Jonathan's Facebook page indicated that he was from Randwick Boys' High School, a school in New South Wales, Australia. He appeared to be an avid skateboarder who was also interested in parkour.

The elder of two boys, Jonathan returned to Singapore last year and was waiting to be enlisted for national service, his father told Shin Min Daily News. "I am not even sure of what happened (on Friday)," he said at the morgue Saturday morning.

This is the first time such an incident has happened at the mall and the affected link bridge remained closed to the public yesterday. Mavis Seow, chief executive of Far East Organization's retail business group, which owns Orchard Central, said: "Together with our building consultants, we are currently reviewing if any other measures, in addition to the glass barrier, are required... In the interim, our security officers will be patrolling the various link bridges at more frequent intervals." - The Straits Times/Asia News Network

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2017/02/26/video-of-teen-who-fell-from-singapore-malls-link-bridge-leaked-online/#PGt5PqupuiqzLk1d.99